S I L LY S H E E T S

LITERARY DEVICES / FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

SILLY SHEET•On the LEFT SIDE of the red margin line, you are going to list each literary device. • Spread the words out evenly by skipping 2-3 spaces between words.• NOTE: Leave 2-3 spaces at the bottom of the

paper after the last word.•DO NOT CROSS THE RED LINE. Stay in the margin.•DO NOT GO ONTO THE BACK OF THE PAPER.

Simile

Metaphor

Personification

Allusion

Irony

Foreshadow-ingImagery

DO NOT cross this line. Break the word if necessary.

Skip more lines if you can. Use the whole paper but leave 2-3 lines at the bottom for the last word.

• Next to each word, write the definition.• Like this:• Simile A comparison between two unlike

things using the words “like” or “as.”

•Metaphor A comparison between two unlike things that does NOT use the

words “like” or “as.”

• The definitions are on the following slides.

SIMILE•A simile is a comparison between two unlike objects using the words “like” or “as.”

METAPHOR•A comparison between two UNLIKE things that DOESN’T use “like” or “as.”•The author simply says that one thing IS another instead of saying that it’s LIKE that thing.

PERSONIFICATION

•The author talks about an object as if it were a person or an animal.•The author often does this by giving the object feelings or having an animal talk or reason.•Notice that Personification makes an object seem like a person.

ALLUSION

•Allusion is when an author refers to something famous in the text but doesn’t offer any explanation.•The author assumes that you know and understand the reference.

PERSON

•The allusion could be to a famous person (Michael Jordan or Shakespeare)…

CHARACTER

•A fictional character like Spiderman, Santa Claus, or the Grinch…

an important event(The Civil War, the Super Bowl, Hurricane Katrina)

EVENT

•Or even another book, such as…•Romeo and Juliet•The Bible•The Little Engine that Could

BOOK

IRONY

•You expect something to happen, but the opposite happens. •OR – a weird coincidence.

FORESHADOWING

•The author gives us clues to what is going to happen later in the story.

IMAGERY

•Using details and descriptions in order to create a sensory experience for the reader.•Imagery involves one or more of your five senses (hearing, taste, touch, smell, sight).

• FOLD YOUR PAPER TO THE RED LINE.COVER THE DEFINITION BUT NOT THE WORD.LIKE THIS:

• Simile A comparison between two unlike things using the words “like” or “as.”

• Metaphor A comparison between two unlike things that does NOT use the words “like” or “as.”

Fold the right edge of your paper to the red line.Cover this part – the definition.

On the blank space you created by folding, write an example next to each word. Like this:

• Simile The box is as light as a feather.

•Metaphor Her eyes were diamonds, glittering in the moonlight.

SIMILE EXAMPLES

• "Life is like an onion: You peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep.” (Carl Sandburg)

•Her eyes shone like diamonds.

• The box is as light as a feather.

METAPHOR EXAMPLES

•Her eyes were diamonds, glittering in the moonlight.

•His face was ice, frozen into place and showing no trace of emotion.

PERSONIFICATION EXAMPLES

•The flame danced in the breeze.

•The clock ticked away happily.

•The moon smiled down on me.

PERSONIFICATION AND METAPHOR EXAMPLE:

•The house was an eerie face, staring at me from across

the street.

ALLUSION EXAMPLES

•He’s so honest, George Washington would be proud.

•His speech reminds me of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

•Kidnappers are so frustrated with the boy that they pay his father to take him back.

•OR – A person who always plays the same lottery numbers forgets to play them, and they win!

IRONY EXAMPLES

FORESHADOWING EXAMPLE

• I looked back at the beach as we drove away. Little did I know that the next time I would visit the ocean, all my peaceful memories would be shattered forever.

IMAGERY EXAMPLES

• Visual: the clouds were low and hairy...like locks blown forward in the gleam of eyes.• Auditory: the roar of trees, the crack of

branches, beating on a box• Smell: musk from hidden grapevine springs • Taste: the blueberries as big as your

thumb...with the flavor of soot • Tactile (touch): Mary touches the harp-like

morning-glory strings and plays some tenderness.

ADDING CLUES

• Fold the paper one more time to cover up the examples you just wrote, but keep the word showing.•Draw a clue to help you remember what the word means.•Artistic ability isn’t important, as long as the clue helps you to remember what the word means.

QUIZ YOURSELF

• Fold the words back in the opposite direction so that you have a thin strip with the words on one side and the clues on the other.• Try to remember what each word means without

even looking at the clue.• If you need the clue, flip the strip over.• If you still don’t know, open one flap of the paper

and use the example to help you. • If you still don’t know, open the paper all the way

and read the definition.• Keep quizzing yourself on the ones you are getting

wrong until you know all of the words without even looking at the clues.